At camp Claire, Sawyer makes a cup of tea and goes inside the shelter to wake Jin up, Jin asks how long he has been asleep and Sawyer replies that he figured Jin could use the rest. Sawyer tells Jin that Claire and Locke have gone but will be back before sun up. Jin pleads with Sawyer to leave as he wants to find Sun. Sawyer says no because he wants Man in Locke to get him off the island and he promises to help Jin find Sun. They hear something outside and go to watch Man in Locke, Sayid, Kate, Claire and the other people from the Temple return. Sawyer and Kate say hello to one another.

In Sideways LA, Sawyer is in bed with a woman who refers to him as Jimmy. In a very similar incident to the con Sawyer has previously played he remembers he has to attend a meeting at nine o’clock and the clock currently says 8:42am. He reaches for his briefcase and its spills open and money falls onto the bed. He tries to explain to her that he is heading to a business meeting, when she puts on a robe and pulls a gun on him accusing him of being a con man.

Sawyer answers that he isn’t a con man and that he works for the police, that the room is bugged and surrounded by armed police. He says they have no interest in her and want her to take the briefcase to her husband who is currently in hiding. She calls his bluff and cocks her gun, Sawyer then says the codeword “LaFleur” and the door bursts open and police charge in ordering her to put the gun down. Miles comes in and throws a police badge to Sawyer and tells him to put some clothes on, Sawyer says ok and calls him partner.

Claire’s Squirrel-Baby Looks Like Jar-Jar Binks

On the island Claire is packing ropes and knives when Kate joins her, she looks oddly at the make-shift baby in the bassinet, Claire explains that this is where she has lived and the make shift baby was all she had. Kate makes and “Ewwww” face. They go outside and Man in Locke asks them to gather around and says, “I know that everyone is tired. It was a long traumatic night for all of us. And you all have a lot of questions, I know, and I will make myself available to answer them. But first, right now we need to keep moving. We have to take advantage of the daylight.”

Cindy asks what happened to the rest of the people at the Temple and Man in Locke explains that the black smoke killed them, Zach and Emma look upset so Man in Locke comforts them and promises to take care of them. At the mention of Smokey, Claire grips Kate’s hand. Is it fear or protective? Sawyer approaches Kate and asks if Jack, Hurley and the rest of them made it out ok and Kate says yes, he then asks about Miles to which Kate answers that she doesn’t know what happened to him. She asks Sawyer if he is with Locke now and Sawyer replies by saying he isn’t with anybody.

In Sideways LA, Sawyer is sitting at a desk, the name plate reads “Det. James Ford, LAPD.” He is on the phone ringing various people named Anthony Cooper, and asking them if they were in Alabama in 1976. Miles comes over with two coffee cups – one white, which he gives to Sawyer and one black, which he keeps; and Sawyer hides the piece of paper with all the Anthony Cooper names on, Miles however asks who Anthony Cooper is and Sawyer lies to him saying he was an old school buddy who is going to hook him up with some LA Lakers tickets. Miles asks if Sawyer reconciled with him in Palm Springs last week, and after a brief moment of confusion Sawyer says yes. Miles then tells Sawyer he has arranged a date for him and when Sawyer objects he says, “What is your deal, Jim? Do you want to die alone?” Sawyer agrees to the date and Miles asks for a Lakers ticket. Sawyer says he won’t be able to get Miles a ticket and Miles asks Sawyer if there is something he is lying to him about, Sawyer brushes it off and Miles walks away.

Sawyer’s Recon Mission

On the island Man in Locke is leading the group through the jungle, he says they’ll make camp up ahead and could be there for a couple of days. Sawyer interrupts him and questions when he was planning on leaving the island, they go to talk in private. Man in Locke tells Sawyer he forgives him for interrupting and then confesses to Sawyer that he is the smoke monster, Sawyer asks why they didn’t just join Man in Locke and he answers that they were convinced they were protecting the island from Man in Locke, when in fact all he wants to do is leave. He says it’s either kill or be killed and he doesn’t want to be killed.

They come out onto the beach and see an outrigger, Man in Locke tasks Sawyer with a recon mission to travel to the Hydra Island (I don’t recall it being called that previously) and report back what he finds about the plane and to see if there is anybody there who may wish to harm them. He tells Sawyer he doesn’t worry about Sawyer’s safety because he is the best liar Man in Locke has ever met and he could tell them anything and gain their trust and then when they have access to the airplane they will be able to leave the island. They push the outrigger into the water together and Sawyer leaves on it.

Date a Redhead/Die Alone

Back in Sideways LA, Sawyer goes for his date, he is in a fancy restaurant and meets up with Charlotte Staples Lewis. They discuss what they do for a living and Charlotte tells him she works in archaeology, Sawyer refers to her as being like Indiana Jones and asks if she has a whip. She gives him a naughty look and for a minute you think that it’s gonna get nasty. She questions why Sawyer became a cop and after trying to brush her off he finally confesses that he reached a stage in his life where he was either going to become a cop or a criminal and he chose to become a cop. Charlotte seems really interested and moments later they are back at his apartment in bed. They make love and Sawyer leaves to get her some water, she asks to borrow a t-shirt and Sawyer says they’re in the top drawer. As she opens the drawer she finds a file named Sawyer and opens it to see a picture of a family consisting of Mom, Dad and Son, she picks it up and looks at it and opens the file to return the picture but sees a newspaper story headlined, “Local Man Kills Wife, Self, Survived by Nine-Year-Old Boy.”Sawyer returns angry that she is prying and demands that she leaves immediately, she picks up her clothes and walks out, Sawyer picks up the picture.

Hydra Island… Now With 700% More Death, Carnage, and Flies!

On the island, Sawyer reaches the Hydra Island and passes the cages he and Kate were locked in and had sex in. Kate’s dress is still in the cage and Sawyer picks it up., but he doesn’t sniff it.
Meanwhile, on the main island Kate asks Sayid if he believes Locke and Sayid replies that he does, Kate asks him if he is ok and Sayid replies that he is not. Suddenly Claire pulls Kate backwards and attacks her with a knife to her throat, Sayid just watches as they struggle not moving while Kate implores him to help her. Man in Locke pulls Claire off and Kate picks up a rifle and looks set to hit Claire with it. Man in Locke explains to Claire that Kate did what she had to do with Aaron after Claire disappeared, Claire objects and Man in Locke slaps her across the face and says her behavior is completely inappropriate. Claire looking stunned follows his orders to distance herself away from Kate. Man in Locke asks Kate if she is ok and he looks genuinely worried when she replies that she is not. Man in Locke walks over to talk to Claire.

On the Hydra Island, Sawyer finds the Arija plane, he notices a trail where something has been dragged and follows it, and he sees a group of dead bodies. It obviously smells really bad as it’s covered with flies and Sawyer covers his nose and mouth. He sees a woman running and tells her to stop before catching her. She pleads with him not to hurt her and says she is the only one left.

The Not-Yellow Submarine

At the precinct desk in Sideways LA, Charlie’s brother Liam is at the police station asking about his brother, he turns and asks Sawyer for help but Sawyer brushes him off and says it’s not his department. Miles asks Sawyer to join him in the locker room and when he does Miles shoves him against the lockers and tells him that he ran his credit card, and Sawyer wasn’t in Palm Springs he was in Australia and he wants to know why. Sawyer tells him it’s none of his business, and Miles agrees and says they’re no longer partners. Sawyer looks at his reflection in the mirror and then punches it.

On the Hydra Island, Sawyer gives the woman a drink and introduces himself, she then introduces herself as Zoe. She says she can’t believe she found another survivor from the plane but Sawyer tells her he’s from a different plane crash. He asks what killed all of the people and she says she was collecting wood and heard screams and when she arrived back at the beach they were all dead, and that she dragged them into the jungle out of the sun. She asks if Sawyer is alone, and he says he is with a group of people and he’ll take her back with him, she thanks the Gods but Sawyer says it has nothing to do with God.

Kate is sitting on the ground sobbing, when Man in Locke walks over and apologizes for Claire’s behavior. He tells her it is his fault for lying to Claire about the others having Aaron, and that Claire’s confusion will disappear in time. Kate says he’s very insightful for a dead man, and he says that nobody is perfect but tells her he promised to keep everybody safe and that includes Kate. When asked, he leads her off to show her where he has sent Sawyer.

Sawyer and Zoe are walking towards the outrigger when Sawyer begins questioning her reasons for being on the plane, she asks questions on whether Sawyer and his people are armed. Suddenly, Sawyer pulls his gun on her and calls her out for being a con woman. She looks defeated and whistles, Men come out of the tree line with guns and order Sawyer to put his gun down. Sawyer drops to his knees and asks them to take him to their leader.

Man in Locke shows Kate the Hydra Island and tells her that he sent Sawyer there, but he brought her out to talk to her, he says that he isn’t a dead man, and tells Kate that a long time ago, before he looked like Locke he had a mother, just like anyone. But she was a disturbed woman and as a result of that caused Man in Locke some growing pains and problems that he is still trying to work through, problems that could’ve been avoided had things been different. Kate asks why he is telling her this and he says because now Aaron has a crazy mother too. Kate has a stepped in dog crap look on her face.

Sawyer is being led through the jungle, he sees some of them putting up pylons that look like miniature sonic fence thingies and they come across a submarine, Zoe tells him to go inside and says that he is waiting for him. They pass a locked door which Zoe makes sure is locked and tells Sawyer it’s none of his business what is inside the room when he asks.

Sawyers Deals

Sawyer arrives home in Sideways LA. He fixes himself a microwave dinner and is watching Little House on the Prairie, Pa is telling Melissa Gilbert about life and Sawyer turns off the tv and leaves to go to Charlotte’s apartment with a sunflower and a six pack of beers. Charlotte tells him to leave and that he blew his chance with her, Sawyer leaves the sunflower by the apartment door as he exits.

Inside the submarine Sawyer is taken to see Charles Widmore, he refuses to shake his hand and accuses Widmore of sending the freighter full of people to kill them all, he also accuses him of murdering the people outside in the ditch. Widmore comments on how sad it is that Sawyer actually knows so little and claims not to have killed the people on the Hydra Island, he asks Sawyer why he has come to the Hydra Island. Sawyer says that John Locke sent him and when Charles Widmore says that John Locke is dead, Sawyer says Charles knows exactly who he is referring to. He then offers Widmore a deal, that he’ll return to the Man in Locke and tell him the coast is clear, then he’ll deliver Man in Locke to his front door where Widmore can kill him. Sawyer says he wants a safe passage off the island for him and his friends in exchange. Despite neither of them really being able to trust the other they shake hands to agree and Sawyer leaves to return to the main island.

Elsewhere, Kate pulls her rifle up as Claire approaches her, Claire says sorry to Kate for her over reactions and asks for forgiveness, and tells Kate that she understands why she took Aaron. The two hug as Claire continues to apologize. Claire breaks down and sobs and Kate comforts her.

Sawyer returns and Man in Locke runs down to him and asks him what he saw. Sawyer tells him that everyone from the plane is dead, and then tells him about the deal he struck with Charles Widmore.. He says that Widmore is hiding something in a locked room on the submarine, and his team are constructing pylons, the type that stops the smoke monster entering. He also says they are heavily armed, but that this knowledge will allow Man in Locke to get the jump on them. Man in Locke thanks Sawyer for his loyalty, to which Sawyer replies that a deal is a deal.

In Sideways LA, as Miles leaves the police station Sawyer beeps the horn of his car and beckons him over. He hands Miles the Sawyer file and tells him the story of his father killing his mother because of a man called Sawyer. He says he has tracked him down and his name is now Anthony Cooper and that he wants to find and kill him. Miles asks Sawyer why he kept it from him and Sawyer tells him that Miles would’ve only tried to talk him out of it.

Suddenly a car slams into them and the driver, wearing a hoodie to disguise themselves, gets out and begins running away. Sawyer and Miles give chase and Sawyer catches the driver. He pulls the hood off and says “Son-of-a-Bitch” when he realizes its Kate and remembers her from the Oceaniac flight.

Its night time on the island and Sawyer asks Kate what’s for dinner as he is starving, Kate replies that its rabbit. She questions why Sawyer is now running errands for Locke, Sawyer says he isn’t running errands for anybody. He tells Kate about Widmore and that his men want Man in Locke, and that he’s just going to lead them all into a big fight, and while they’re busy he and Kate are going to leave the island. Kate counters by saying even if the plan worked they don’t know how to fly the plane. Sawyer tells her they aren’t taking the plane, they’ll be taking the submarine, he calls her freckles.

So what do you think of yet another action packed episode? So many new questions! What is being hidden in the locked room on the submarine? Who is Man in Locke’s mother? And what made her crazy? What a surprise it was to see Sawyer as a cop in his flash-sideways, will he let Kate escape again? Let me know your thoughts.

Born in 1952 (you do the math), making me one of the proverbial "old farts" involved in toys, comic books, and other juvenile activities that everyone said I should have outgrown decades ago. Fortunately, my wife of 36 years is an understanding soul. A firm believer in the philosophy of Groucho Marx, George Carlin, Robin Williams and Chris Rock.
Am now indoctrinating my grandchildren to carry on so that when I finally fade away there will be another generation of odd neighbors who seemed nice and kept to themselves.

Another solid episode. I have a feeling the next few episodes will be set up for the next Big Confrontation on Hydra Island (it was the site of the Hydra station, so Hydra Island makes sense). Tomorrow’s episode should shed some serious light on the island, what with it being Richard’s flashback. They are starting to run out of time, so answers need to be forthcoming.
Still on the fence about the sideways flashes. Hope they wrap up soon so we can focus on the Island for the last third of the season.